His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And We inspired to Musa and his brother that they should take for their people in Egypt houses and make your houses a qiblah and establish the prayer and give good tidings to the believers﴾ ﴿And Musa said, Our Lord, indeed You have given Pharaoh and his people adornment and wealth in the worldly life. Our Lord, to lead them astray from Your way. Our Lord, obliterate their wealth and harden their hearts so they do not believe until they see the painful punishment﴾ ﴿He said, Your supplication has been answered, so remain steadfast and do not follow the way of those who do not know﴾

It has been narrated that Pharaoh frightened the Children of Israel and destroyed for them places they had taken for prayer and similar to this. So Allah inspired Musa and Harun to take and choose for the Children of Israel houses in Egypt. Mujahid said: Egypt in this verse refers to Alexandria, and Egypt is what is between the sea and Aswan, and Alexandria is from the land of Egypt. And "take" means: as we said: choose and take, and it is a term used for places and what is similar to them. From this is the saying of the poet:

؎ She has her command until when she has taken a resting place for her flocks

And this verse is for the shepherd, and by it, the shepherd is named. And from it is the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

؎ They take their seats for fighting you

And the people read: "take" with a hamzah on the estimation of (.....), and Hafs read in the narration of Hubayrah: "take". This is a facilitation that is not based on analogy, and if it were based on analogy, it would have been between the hamzah and the alif. And His saying: ﴿a qiblah﴾ means: mosques, as said by Ibn Abbas, al-Rabi', al-Dahhak, al-Nakha'i, and others. They said: They feared, so they were commanded to pray in their houses. And it was said: they face each other, as said by Sa'id ibn Jubayr, and the first is more correct. And it was said: its meaning is: directed towards the qiblah, as said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them. And from this is a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "The best of your houses are those that face the qiblah." And His saying: ﴿And establish the prayer﴾ is an address to the Children of Israel. This was before the revelation of the Torah, as it was not revealed until after the crossing of the sea. And His saying: ﴿And give good tidings to the believers﴾ is a command to Musa, peace be upon him. And Makki and al-Tabari said: It is a command to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and this is not firmly established.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And Moses said" is anger from Moses, peace be upon him, towards the Egyptians and a supplication against them. He presented the favor of Allah upon them and their ingratitude for it before the supplication. And "You have given" means: You have granted and made them possess. His saying, "Our Lord" is a call for help, as the supplicant calls upon Allah. And His saying, "to mislead them" is possible to be interpreted as the لام (lam) of purpose, meaning: You have given them wealth to fill them and as a means of leading them astray. Thus, the giving was so that they would be misled. It is also possible that the لام is for the outcome and consequence, as He said: "And the family of Pharaoh picked him up to be an enemy and a source of grief for them" [Al-Qasas: 8]. The meaning is: You have given them that, and their matter became such. It has been narrated from Al-Hasan that he said: It is a supplication. And it is possible that the meaning is in the form of a question, that is: Our Lord, did You do that so they would be misled? In this is a confirmation of their disgrace.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Ibn Amir, Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Shaiba, Abu Ja'far, Mujahid, Abu Rija' and the people of Mecca read: "to mislead them" with a فتح (fath) on the ياء (ya), meaning: to mislead them within themselves. And Asim, Hamza, Al-Kisai, Al-Amash, Qatadah, Isa, Al-Hasan, and Al-A'raj - with a difference from him - read: "to mislead" with a ضم (dham) on the ياء, meaning: to mislead others. And Al-Sha'bi read: "to mislead them" with a كسر (kasr) on the ياء.

Al-Sha'bi also read, and others: "obliterate" with a ضم (dham) on the ميم (meem). A group read: "obliterate" with a كسر (kasr) on the ميم. These are two dialects. It is said: طَمَسَ يَطْمِسُ and يَطْمُسُ. Abu Hatim said: The reading of the people is with a كسر (kasr) on the ميم, and the ضم (dham) is a well-known dialect. Its meaning is: to erase and change, and it is from طُمُوسِ الأثرِ and العينِ and طَمْسِ الوجوهِ. From it is the saying of Ka'b ibn Zuhair:

"From every dripping of the dew when it sweats, its exposure is the obliteration of the unknown signs."

It has been narrated that when Moses, peace be upon him, made this supplication, their sugar returned as stones, and their provisions and coins and grains returned as stones. This was said by Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd. And Mujahid and others said: Its meaning is: He destroyed it and laid waste to it. It has been narrated that the obliteration is one of the signs of Moses, peace be upon him, the ninth. And His saying: "And harden their hearts" means: seal and stamp them with disbelief, as Mujahid and Al-Dahhak said. And when Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, suggested to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to kill the captives of Badr, he likened him to Moses, peace be upon him, in his supplication against his people to whom he was sent in this verse, and to Noah, peace be upon him, in his saying: "Do not leave upon the earth any of the disbelievers" [Noah: 26]. And His saying: "So they will not believe" is the view of Al-Akhfash and others that the verb is منصوب (nasb) as an adjunct to his saying: "to mislead them." It is said that it is منصوب (nasb) in response to the command. Al-Farra' and Al-Kisai said: It is مجزوم (majzum) based on the supplication, and from it is the saying of the poet:

"So let not what is between your eyes expand what has withdrawn, nor teach me except while your nose is humbled."

And He made the sight of the punishment an end and a goal. This is due to His knowledge from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, that the believer, upon seeing the punishment, will not benefit from his faith at that time, nor will it save him from his disbelief. Then Allah answered this supplication in Pharaoh himself. Ibn Abbas said: The punishment here is drowning. The people read: "Your supplication," and Al-Suddi and Al-Dahhak read: "Your supplications." It has been narrated from Ibn Jarir, Muhammad ibn Ali, and Al-Dahhak that the answer to the supplication did not manifest except after forty years. And at that time, there was drowning. (p-520)

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it was made known that their supplication coincided with a predetermined decree. This is the meaning of the answering of the supplication. And it was said to them: (Do not follow the way of those who do not know), meaning that you should not hasten My decree, for My promise is certain. And His saying: "Your supplication" indicates that the supplication was only for Musa, blessings and peace be upon him. It has been narrated that Harun was affirming the supplication of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him. This was said by Muhammad ibn Kab Al-Qurazi. The supplication was attributed to both of them, and it was said that he referred to the singular using the dual form, as he said:

Let us weep............. ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗.......................

And similar to this.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is weak because the verse includes addressing them without anything. Ali ibn Sulaiman said: The words of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him: "Our Lord" indicate that they both supplicated together. And His saying: "So be steadfast" means in what you have been commanded regarding supplicating to Allah. They were commanded to be steadfast while they are on it for continuity and persistence.

Nafi and the people read: "You both should not follow" with emphasis on the 'ta' and 'nun' for prohibition. Ibn Amer and Ibn Dhakwan read: "You both should follow" with the 'ta' lightened and the 'nun' emphasized. Ibn Dhakwan also read: "You both should not follow" with the 'ta' emphasized and the 'nun' lightened and broken. A group read: "You both should follow" with it lightened and the 'nun' silent. This was narrated by Al-Akhfash Al-Dimashqi from his companions from Ibn Amer. As for the emphasis on the 'nun', it is the heavy 'nun' that was omitted along with the 'nun' of duality for the purpose of the jussive, just as it is omitted along with the dammah in "You will certainly do" where the verb is built with it on the fatha. And this heavy 'nun' was broken after the alif of duality. As for its lightening, it is correct that the heavy one was lightened, and it is correct that it is the 'nun' of duality and the meaning of the speech is a statement, meaning: it is not appropriate for you to follow. Abu Ali said: If you wish, you can make it a state from "So be steadfast" as if he said: not following.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the conjunction contradicts this, so reflect on it.